﻿﻿Troop 799﻿﻿

Six scouts and four adults went on a weekend canoe trip in Kerr Lake along the Virginia - North Carolina border. The Troop started at Eagle Point Scout Reservation where we camped Friday night. Saturday morning, Mr. Prideaux went over canoe basics for the beginners and we then left for Hemric Island. We arrived at Hemric Scout Reservation with some helpful towing for the last mile or so from Mr. Heider's jet-ski to make sure we had time to get setup before dark. Hemric is owned by the Old North State Council in North Carolina, but had not been used much lately due to the limited access. The island had a small dining hall, cabin, and water tower built when there used to be road access to the camp. The lake rose over that road, so now the only way to access the island is by boat. Due to the condition of the cabin and dining hall, we decided to tent and eat outside. We had some freeze dried meals for dinner with some camping stoves such has Lasagna, Beef Stew, or Sweet and Sour Pork. After dinner, everyone enjoyed the big campfire. The next morning, we woke up early and ate oatmeal and freeze dried meals and then left by 8:30. Everyone made it back to Eagle Point, all 8.5 miles, by 11:30 (and without jet-ski towing). We then departed for Richmond very satisfied and tired after a fun and successful canoe trip.

We traveled 9.2 miles on the longer trip to Hemric.We traveled 7.8 miles on the more efficient trip back to Eagle Point.We had a slight headwind on the way to Hemric and a slight tail-wind on the way back to Eagle Point.

Wow, Buckskin was definitely an experience to remember. To put it in the words of Mr. Stills, the Buckskin scoutmaster: "We pounded them!" It was great!

Each day started at 7 each morning. The rest of the day included leadership lectures, games(such as our 8 man patrol dragging a half-ton log around a field twice), and cooking. But through all the hard work it was a blast.

We had two guys from our Troop go (including me) and then one on staff.

I now feel very prepared to help lead our troop and I loved the experience.